By: Matt Weik, BS, CSCS, CPT, CSN
Unfortunately, there are way too many people who consider their bulk a time for them to eat whatever the heck they want in an effort to put on size gains. They follow their “plan” for months until thinking it’s time to get shredded and show off their new dense muscle. They take off their shirt, look in the mirror, and… WTF? They’re fat. How did this happen? It’s easy — they had no clue how to clean bulk properly.
Therefore, I’m going to save you from making the same mistake that so many have and continue to make. I’m laying out an essential clean bulking guide for you so you have a solid foundation of what you should be doing (or not doing) in order to get the best results.
Disclaimer: It is recommended that you speak with your doctor before starting any exercise program or making changes to your nutrition plan.
Prevent Fat Gain Through Our Clean Bulking Guide
If you were to ask anyone what a clean bulk is, they’d probably give you an answer similar to “cleaning up your nutrition and eating healthy foods while putting yourself in a caloric surplus to gain lean muscle mass.”
While that answer isn’t wrong, there’s more to it than just that. It’s for that reason that we wanted to bring you a clean bulking guide that can help you along the way and allow you to see better results and progress during your bulk (and reduce the amount of body fat you may gain when doing so).
Why Would You Want to Clean Bulk?
The purpose of this clean bulking guide is to help you better understand the fundamentals of a clean bulk.
When you bulk, your goal shouldn’t be to see how much weight you can add to your frame. The goal should be to see how much QUALITY muscle you can add to your frame. People get this confused and think it means they can eat whatever they want, whenever they want, and forgo cardio. All things that are incorrect.
We want you to get the best results possible and minimize the body fat gained so that at the end of your clean bulk, you don’t need a 12-week window to diet down to actually look like you’re in shape.
Follow These Strategies in Our Clean Bulking Guide
With all of that being said above, let’s jump into the essential clean bulking guide and help shed some light on the subject so you can be well-informed and make the right decisions based on your goals.
1. Get enough rest
College, entrepreneur, parent, life… are all things that can cause you to get a terrible night’s sleep. Yet, this is an area that many don’t fully grasp the importance of. If you aren’t getting enough quality sleep, your results will drastically suffer.
Strive for a minimum of seven hours of quality sleep each night. No, that doesn’t mean watching television in bed all night or lying in bed scrolling through your social media feeds. That means turning off everything and SLEEPING for seven straight hours.
2. Increase calories, but don’t get carried away
Now is not the time to hit up every buffet around where you live because you’re “bulking.” Now is the time to increase your calories, all while not getting sloppy with your overall macros or food choices. You should still be looking to eat clean foods while adding in a few treats you might not normally consume when cutting.
This clean bulking guide is meant to help you get a grasp on your bulk without adding large amounts of body fat in the process. As I always do, I would still recommend tracking your meals. Something like MyFitnessPal would be ideal. Use it to make sure you are only adding 250-500 calories to your maintenance calories each day.
At the end of the week, hop on the scale to see if your weight is improving. Pay attention to your body fat and get it checked during your clean bulk as well.
If you find you are gaining considerable amounts of body fat, look at your macros and make some adjustments, as well as consider slightly modifying or lowering your caloric intake.
3. Continue with your cardio sessions
The good news is that you don’t need to do those crazy long cardio sessions in hopes of shedding that unwanted body fat. However, you still need to continue with some form of cardio for 20-30 minutes to help reduce the likelihood of gaining high amounts of body fat during your bulk. Again, this clean bulking guide is to help you add quality mass to your frame, not sloppy mass that you’ll spend just as much time trying to shed later on.
Toss in a few (2-3) HIIT cardio sessions each week or opt for some low-intensity steady-state cardio to at least keep your ticker in good health while helping to burn a little body fat in the process. Remember, your goal isn’t to go into a caloric deficit, so you don’t want to go balls to the walls with your cardio sessions during your clean bulking.
4. Consume adequate protein
With so many diets out there today where macros are being cut or eliminated, there’s one thing you need to stay consistent with — protein.
Consume anywhere from 1-1.5g of protein per pound of body weight each and every day. The added protein will not only help increase your overall caloric intake, but it will also help you build and repair the torn-down muscle fibers you created through your intense workouts.
Something else to consider is the type of protein you use. Whole foods should always be a priority, but if you find yourself with protein farts, it may be due to a low-quality protein powder. It’s for that reason we created an industry favorite with Lean Whey. Our protein is of the highest quality possible and also utilizes a fat metabolizing complex that can help minimize body fat increases during your clean bulk.
5. Post-workout nutrition is vital
Your body screams for nutrients following a workout, so give it what it demands. During workouts, you should focus on your form as well as time under tension. While the weight used during each exercise matters, it really means nothing if you can’t do the exercise with strict form and without swinging or jerking the weight around.
Related Article: Time Under Tension — The Secret to Better Results from ANY Workout
Rather than consuming a real food meal that will take the body time to break down and eventually shuttle out to the working muscles, opt for a high-quality protein shake. The liquid form allows the body to quickly absorb and transport nutrients out into the body to kickstart the recovery process. This is a crucial part of your clean bulking success to get the most out of your time in the gym.
6. Lift heavy and challenge the muscles
You are going to want to challenge your muscles during each and every workout. Anything easy is not worth doing when it comes to your time in the gym. Find exercises that challenge your muscles and deeply stimulate the muscle fibers. The more muscle fibers you can break down and create micro-tears in, the better chance you have of rebuilding the muscle back bigger and stronger over time (assuming you have your rest and nutrition on point).
Related Article: Train Insane — The Answer to Gains
The added calories you are consuming could also cause you to feel stronger versus when you are in a deficit and tend to be a little on the weaker side. Take advantage of this and continue to overload the muscles each workout and challenge them in new ways to force growth.
7. Utilize the right mix of supplements to support your clean bulk
There’s no shortage of supplements out on the market, but something we felt we needed to add into our clean bulking guide is a complete stack that can help you achieve your goals quickly.
When creating the MuscleSport Ultimate Muscle Building Stack, we wanted to provide you with the essentials to support your clean bulk and allow you the ability to maximize muscle growth without potentially adding any unwanted body fat. If you do your part with your workouts and nutrition, the Ultimate Muscle Building Stack will do its part, too.
The MuscleSport Ultimate Muscle Building Stack is an ideal mix of supplements to support your clean bulk. Within the stack, you’ll get to choose your:
- Favorite flavor of MuscleSport Mass Revolution
- Favorite flavor of Creatine + Hydration
- Preferred testosterone booster
- Preference between our BCAA products or sleep aid
- Free gift for being awesome and using our clean bulking guide and stack
Get the most out of our clean bulking guide by utilizing each of the tips and strategies we’ve laid out. The only thing left to do now is implement what you learned and put in the work. Good luck and happy gains!